Supplemental Security Income Restoration Act of 2026
Sponsored By: Representative Grijalva
Introduced
Summary
Expands and modernizes Supplemental Security Income (SSI) to increase access and boost payments for low-income older adults and people with disabilities. This bill would raise income and resource limits, eliminate the marriage penalty, index benefits to a Consumer Price Index for the elderly (CPI-E), and extend SSI coverage to several U.S. territories while excluding certain tribal and state tax credits from countable income.
Show full summary
- Low-income seniors and people with disabilities: The bill would substantially raise the income exclusion, earned income exclusion, and resource limits and peg future adjustments to CPI-E. It would exclude in-kind support and some retirement accounts from resources and extend an exclusion period from 9 months to 21 months.
- Married couples and households: It would remove the marriage-based benefit penalty by tying post-2026 payments to a single schedule. Unmarried benefits would be linked to the Federal poverty guideline and married benefits would equal twice the unmarried amount.
- Territories and tribal communities: The bill would extend SSI to Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa, lift payment caps to those jurisdictions, treat U.S. nationals like citizens for eligibility, and exclude Indian general welfare benefits from income and resources.
Your PRIA Score
Personalized for You
How does this bill affect your finances?
Sign up for a PRIA Policy Scan to see your personalized alignment score for this bill and every other piece of legislation we track. We analyze your financial profile against policy provisions to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.
Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
5 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 1 costs, 1 mixed.
Higher SSI checks and limits
If enacted, this would raise key SSI dollar rules and make benefits larger for many low-income seniors and people with disabilities. The earned income exclusion would be $6,149 in 2026 and the general exclusion $1,892 in 2026. The individual resource limit would be $20,000 and the couple limit $10,000 in 2026, all indexed each year using a CPI-E formula. For years after 2026, the basic SSI payment for a single person would be tied to the previous year’s poverty guideline and reduced by nonexcluded income; the married amount would be twice that single amount reduced by both spouses’ nonexcluded income.
Sponsor cash not counted as income
If enacted, this would stop counting sponsor cash support as the immigrant's income when that cash duplicates amounts already counted under income deeming. The rule applies only during the first five years after the person enters the United States. This would help some recent entrants avoid double-counting and better qualify for SSI or receive higher payments.
SSI for Puerto Rico and Territories
If enacted, this would extend federal SSI to Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa. The bill would treat United States nationals of those places like citizens for SSI and remove prior payment limits to those jurisdictions. The Social Security Commissioner could waive or change certain rules to adapt SSI for those territories.
SSI changes start delayed one year
If enacted, the amendments in this Act would take effect on the first day of the first calendar month after the one-year period that begins on the date of enactment. That would delay when new SSI eligibility, payment, and resource rules apply to households.
Simpler rules for past-due SSI money
If enacted, this would repeal the law that created special dedicated accounts for past-due SSI and say money moved from those accounts would not count as income or resources for SSI or other federal, state, or local programs. The bill would also remove the rule that certain SSI payments must be made in installments. The law would drop a statutory penalty for giving away resources for less than fair market value and instead require Social Security to tell applicants about the Medicaid rule and share disposal information with State Medicaid agencies.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Grijalva
AZ • D
Cosponsors
Balint
VT • D
Sponsored 3/5/2026
Carson
IN • D
Sponsored 3/5/2026
Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large]
DC • D
Sponsored 3/5/2026
Jayapal
WA • D
Sponsored 3/5/2026
Lee (PA)
PA • D
Sponsored 3/5/2026
Lieu
CA • D
Sponsored 3/5/2026
Moore (WI)
WI • D
Sponsored 3/5/2026
Del. Moylan, James C. [R-GU-At Large]
GU • R
Sponsored 3/5/2026
Pingree
ME • D
Sponsored 3/5/2026
Del. Plaskett, Stacey E. [D-VI-At Large]
VI • D
Sponsored 3/5/2026
Schakowsky
IL • D
Sponsored 3/5/2026
Soto
FL • D
Sponsored 3/5/2026
Stansbury
NM • D
Sponsored 3/5/2026
Titus
NV • D
Sponsored 3/5/2026
Tlaib
MI • D
Sponsored 3/5/2026
Gomez
CA • D
Sponsored 3/12/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.govTake It Personal
Get Your Personalized Policy View
Start a Free Government Policy Watch to see how policy affects your household, then upgrade to PRIA Full Coverage for year-round monitoring.
Already have an account? Sign in